Social Science Lecture Series | Prof. Dr. Juan Carlos Castillo › view all

Social cohesion and attitudinal changes toward migration: A longitudinal perspective amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Social Sciences Lecture Series with Prof. Dr. Juan Carlos Castillo (University of Chile) on "Social cohesion and attitudinal changes toward migration: A longitudinal perspective amid the COVID-19 pandemic".

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted social interactions and coexistence around the globe in dimensions that go far beyond health issues. In the case of the Global South, the pandemic has developed along with growing South-South migratory movements, becoming another key factor that might reinforce social conflict in increasingly multicultural areas as migrants have historically served as “scapegoats” for unexpected crises as a way to control and manage diversity. Chile is one of the main destination countries for migrants from the Latin American and Caribbean region, and COVID-19 outbreaks in migrant housing have intensified discrimination. In such a context, there is a need for understanding how the pandemic has potentially changed the way non-migrants perceive and interact with migrant neighbors. Drawing on the national social cohesion panel survey study ELSOC (2016–2021, N = 2,927) the aim of this talk is to analyze the changes in non-migrants' attitudes toward migrants—related to dimensions of social cohesion—over the last years and their relation with individual status and territorial factors. We argue that social cohesion in increasingly multicultural societies is partially threatened in times of crisis. The results indicate that after the pandemic, convivial attitudes toward Latin American migrants decreased. Chileans started perceiving them more negatively, particularly those respondents with lower educational levels and who live in increasingly multicultural neighborhoods with higher rates of migrant residents.

About

Prof. Dr. Juan Carlos Castillo is a Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Chile and a principal investigator at the Center for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies in Santiago de Chile.

Organization

The Lecture is orgnized by the GlobaLab Cluster initiative and part of the Lecture Series "Bremen Conversations on Global Solidarity"

The lecture will take place on site in the BIGSSS Conference Room (University of Bremen, Mary-Somerville Str. 7, UNICOM, house 7, 3rd floor, room 7.3280) and will be streamed via Zoom:

https://uni-bremen.zoom.us/j/9461422783

Meeting ID: 946 142 2783